I’ve received dozens of phone calls, emails and texts asking me to comment on the passing of John Sarno.

John Sarno is the person that first uncovered the psychological cause of most chronic pain. After witnessing that the traditional pain management paradigm was woefully inadequate, he began researching the actual cause of subacute and chronic pain.
Eventually he realized the the cause is rarely structure of physiology but psychological/emotional.

He was willing to stand-up to the rest of the medical community and for that he deserves tremendous respect and admiration.

Often misunderstood, I believe too many people have become devotees of the person and not the possibilities of the work. This allegiance has limited the possibility of using the tremendous results of his efforts to create better bodies of work that will eliminate both the crisis of chronic pain and the opioid epidemic. Sainthood diminishes his potential legacy.

Zero Pain Now wouldn’t exist without Dr. Sarno. He truly was a pioneer in the pain industry just like the Wright Bros were in the world of aviation. I’ve spent thousands of hours digesting every word he left behind. In a million years I couldn’t have discovered the real cause of most chronic pain.

But I refused to do things the way he did in the 1970s. I knew with my expertise in mind/body that I could, and did make great improvements.

In addition, with the help of wonderful students we’ve also shown that a proven duplicatable training program exists for anyone that truly wants to learn the secrets of pain relief.

However, you wouldn’t want to fly to Europe on the Wright Bros. plane and I bet you wouldn’t trade in your smart phone for an old rotary dial phone.

People with great minds worked incredibly hard to experiment and keep seeking better ways.

We’ve learned more about the brain in the last 10 years than in the 2000 prior years.

So while the cause remains the same –
So while his treatment protocol was unprecedented –

So while Dr. Sarno’s work was groundbreaking –

It’s already been improved upon by others and will continue to get better with each iteration.

And thanks to his work that’s exactly what needs to continue.

“Don’t look at my finger. Look where I’m pointing.” Attributed to The Buddha.

Dr. Sarno’s greatness is so much larger than his person.

So instead of holding on to the past, I challenge you to roll up your sleeves and keep improving, and testing, and experimenting, and documenting and together we can, we will eliminate unnecessary suffering from physical pain.